


A Shepherd, A Future Knight

by Mocha_K



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Canon Compliant, Introspection, No Romance, Retrospective, also theres no shipping sorry, donnel is so good, he is honest boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 14:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14262792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mocha_K/pseuds/Mocha_K
Summary: Donnel reflects on his joining of the Shepherds, and his life at home, finding himself inspired to reach new heights.ORThe author just really likes Donnel and wants to talk about what an interesting story arch he has like wtf(No shipping, garbage title, garbage content)





	A Shepherd, A Future Knight

**Author's Note:**

> I was v tired but wrote this on my phone at 10pm. Barely proof read, and probably lacking content, this is garbage
> 
> Take it  
> Read it  
> Give kudos or whatever
> 
> (I just really like FE and Donnel, sue me)

It was... a change of pace, to say the least. The sheer amount of travelling was the first change. Donnel had grown acustomed to the schedule of the farm. He only had to move from the field, to the barn, to the dinner table, and maybe the village on weekends. Frankly, he might go months without peering over the south east hill that wasn't but a couple stone throws from the barn. So setting camp in a new meadow every night was entirely new to Donnel.

He vaguely remembered some nomadic traders that described the same lifestyle to him across a friendly meal at home. They'd just been passing by and were gone by the next morning, leaving some sour fruit that made him mistrust anything yellow again.

But, Donnel hadn't grasped the lifestyle. He'd wondered, "What do they even sleep on? What about friends? Families?" Being Nomadic sounded painful, like an old, weathered tree having to uprooting itself day in, day out.

But living with the Shepherds wasn't like that in the slightest. If anything, they were like wolves. Huddled together in a pack around a fire, sharing stories and fresh game alike.

And sleeping wasn't the worst. He had a bedroll. Combined with a tent and some hard work, he slept as well as any other night. Sometimes they had to sleep on rocky terrain; but they were far and few between, as far as Donnel was concerned.

It wasn't the bedding or friends that threw him for a loop with the Shepherds. It was everything else. Though fresh game, bear was now on the menu, and Donnel had to agree with the princess; it tasted something foul.

Fruit and vegetablrs were few and far between before he started bringing the bilberry bushes in pots. Even so, vegetables are right hard to take with ya. Picky little things, they like to be.

But if you asked Donnel's sore body, it'd tell you the training was the worst. Learning to stab with a pitchfork hardly cut it for the risen, so learning to use a real lance was key. But asking around camp, and (unfortunately) finding Fredrick, led to a brutal training regime. Before Fredrick, Donnel's neck muscles never ached from anything but a bad night's rest. Now Donnel knew all the muscles on his body. Apparently he reached 'acceptable standards' quickly, but two weeks of trainining under the tyrant was painstaking. Not that Donnel held it against Fredrick. Donnel knew how to work hard and honest, and appreciated Fredrick's help. He just wished he didn't hurt so much.

Donnel couldn't help but feel like his life was upended like a potted plant. But, he also couldn't say it was for the worse. He could see himself becoming a knight. He never had the slightest chance on the farm. Here, with the Shepherds? He felt his strength well up. On a good day, he held his own with Sully. Once, he sparred Chrom, the prince! The folks back home wouldn't even believe it.

But, he saw himself in the distant future. Flanked by an amazing (though unknown) wife, and having returned to the farm a retired knight of Yllise, describing battles to his child before bed. It was a dream, but more than ever, Donnel swore he saw it in a rapidly approaching future.


End file.
